#sharkie

Last night Brendon had called you over from his room for your little ritual, just like he said he would. Once you walked in you saw that he was fresh out of the shower, and admittedly he looked really attractive. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants, and was putting on his shirt whilst facing away from the bathroom door where you entered. You got the slightest look at his bare back. He was chiseled. His hair, which was gelled back before, was now towel dried with his dark curls falling on his forehead. He started going to the gym consistently while in residency, but he had recently bulked up. A ton. Once he turned around, you tried your best not to stare at his arms stretching against his band tee, but you failed.  God, he smelled of sandalwood too. God it’s like high school all over again. 

“You look good Brendon, you’ve really kept at it.” You looked to his eyes, trying not to look anywhere else.

“Thanks, it takes hard work to keep these guns.” He smirked, posing with his biceps flexed. They were sculpted as hell. You had eyes, the man was hot. He knew it too. You just didn’t want him to know you knew. 

Once you had put your toiletry bag on the counter, you pulled out your toothbrush to start the childhood ritual. A hard wave of nostalgia hit you as you two brushed along with some other twist at your stomach. In high school, it was mostly you two hanging out with each other. In college you two called as much as possible, you were as close as you could be from hundreds of miles away. But now, he’s truly got a whole different life that you’re not part of. It doesn’t help that he went into a whole different industry that took all of his time for so many years. You knew nothing about medicine. Brendon grew into this whole new person and you felt like you were still little ole you. You’re not a cool doctor, or a badass nurse. It gets harder to relate to him as he’s off saving lives, and you’re just trying to stay afloat. Sometimes you worry that Brendon only keeps talking to you just because you’ve known each other for so long. Maybe you just pester him enough that he can’t ignore it. Are you interesting enough to still be in his life?

Washing your face as Brendon told you about his schedule for the next day, you felt a sense of comfort. But anxiety lingered right behind it. You were only here for a few days and then you were right back alone. 

But Brendon always called back, always asked how you were, remembered things you talked about last week. The little voice in your head just liked to get at you. 

If you weren’t trying to rush out of Brendon’s place, you probably would’ve had last night’s feelings bubble up. You left the bathroom and rummaged through your bag for one of your preplanned outfits. You threw it on, grabbed your bag and rushed downstairs to drink something before you left. Ordering a car to Brendon’s house, you half-hazardly opened the kitchen cabinets until you found some cereal. You dug your hand into the box and grabbed a handful of cereal, eating it straight out of your palm. You didn’t have time for pancakes, but you had time for an animal feeding with whatever you could get your paws on. You put the cereal box down and went to grab a glass, filling it with water from the fridge. As you checked the time, you switched between eating the rest of the cereal from one hand, and drinking from the glass in your other. 

During your feasting, you heard a ding come from your phone. Shuffling over to hanging over your phone, you saw your car was here. Eyes widening, you shoved the rest of the food into your mouth and washed it down. You put the cup in the sink and ran outside. 

Sitting in the car you let out a breath, pulling out some lip gloss that you left in your bag. Thank god you never emptied your bag last night,  you needed to put some color on your face that wasn’t a flush from running around. 

At the hospital, you entered the same way you did yesterday, through the back doors and continued past the nurses’ station. As you walked to the elevator, you saw Trinity again. 

“Hey!” You greeted, happy to see a friendly face. 

“Hey!” She returned with a playful smile. “What are you doing back? Not hurt, are you?” Her voice was more teasing than concerned. 

“Oh no,” you shook your head, “ just meeting with Brendon for lunch.”

“Oh nice, I have to run but have a good lunch!” She said before bolting away to speak to another doctor.

“Thank you!” You called out, turning around to enter the elevator. 

Once you got to the 4th floor, you walked down a hall to the left and found yourself in front of a circular desk where a receptionist sat. This area of the hospital was much less chaotic than the ER. There were only medical personnel around this area of the floor as well, so it was much quieter. 

“Hello, how can I help you?” The man at the desk asked. 

“Hi, I’m here to have lunch with Brendon Park.” You smiled nervously, your fingers fiddling with your bag below the counter. You were in Brendon’s territory. And you had no idea whether you would be welcomed in or if you would be eaten alive by the swarm. Your heart was drumming inside your chest. You didn’t want to make a bad first impression at his work. 

“Oh perfect! I heard he’s excited.” He smiled, easing your worries. “His office is to the left, 3rd door on the right.” You had a slightly surprised look on your face as you thanked him. You hadn’t expected Brendon to talk about you at work. But it smoothed over some of the anxieties you had. Walking down the hall you reached a door that had a plaque next to it. Orthopedic Attending Brendon Park. You snorted as you knocked on the door. Brendon called you in from the other side. 

“Good morning, sleepy head.” He smirked as you walked in. He was sitting behind a desk in a comfy looking leather chair.

“Give a girl a break,” you groaned, flopping into the cushioned wooden seat across from him, “I was on a flying metal tube yesterday.”

“Didn’t even answer my texts until after I ordered food. You’re lucky I still ordered yours.” He said as he narrowed his eyes on you. “Thank you,” You rolled your eyes in return. “What did you get?

“Bowls from a local burrito place.” He said as he started opening the paper bag that was sitting on his desk. He handed you a bowl and a fork, putting the paper bag on the floor after grabbing his food. “Yours has rice, black beans, chicken, lettuce, cheese, and chicken skin”

“Oh my god this looks so good.” You took off the lid and immediately started to dig in, the cereal was not enough to satiate your animalistic hunger. 

“And I made sure there were no tomatoes,” He nodded towards your bowl, as you hummed in bliss, glad Brendon knew you well enough to order for you. 

“I can’t believe they gave you an office.” You chewed through the words, motioning a hand around you.

“They like me.” He said matter of factly. 

“Mmm,” you mused dubiously, “glad someone does.”

“Ay! I got you food, be grateful.” He playfully scolded you, eyebrows and forehead crinkling. Your hands shot up in defense. “You know I can’t function with too much noise. I can do my paperwork in peace. And I may have threatened to leave if I didn’t get one.” 

“Brendon what the fuck.” Your eyes widened. 

“It’s how I got that raise last year.” He shrugged smugly. Your jaw was dropped. 

“I did not know of your game Brendon Park.” You blinked at him. 

“I get what I want here.” He sat back in his chair.

“Wow, you’re cocky.” Astonished at this different side of him. “You are such a shark.”

“Have been ever since I started as an attending.” He chomped his teeth, making you laugh. As the both of you continued lunch, you continued to poke at him, wanting to know more about his work life. 

“A little birdy told me you were talking about our lunch before I got here.” You tilted your chin back as you narrowed your eyes. His eyes fluttered to the side before looking down, as he shifted in his seat. Brendon usually didn’t get antsy, but he knew you would have him cornered if he tried to run from something you wanted to know. 

“Yeah…” He hesitated looking back at you.. “One of my residents was asking about you during surgery today.” That wasn’t sufficient for you.

“And?” You pressed.

“I told them how we’ve known each other since we were children. That it was your first time in the area. They asked what we planned to see in the city.” He said.  “I may have also told them about the concussion you gave yourself in college.”

“Brendon!” You gasped, moving to smack him but he dodged your hand. “Please don’t tell me you told them the whole story.”

“Maybe.” He looked up at the ceiling as you yelped. Back in your first year of undergrad, you were in the shower and remembered you never texted your friend that you had gotten back to your dorm. The moment you remembered, you immediately ran out of the shower to text them, but after two steps you slipped on the tile and whacked the back of your head on the ground. You also hit an elbow on the way down, trying to soften the blow. To add salt on the wound, you were butt ass naked. You got checked out soon after and were diagnosed with just a mild concussion, but the embarrassment was more painful than the actual concussion, even if no one else saw it. 

“Brendon no!” You whined. “They all probably think I’m stupid as hell.” You placed your hands over your eyes. 

“Payback for showing that photo yesterday.” He said, raising his eyebrows. “And no one would believe I’m friends with someone stupid.”

“My god Brendon, what a way to introduce someone to your staff.” You looked back up with a frown. 

A notification from your phone shook you out of your shame. After reading the message, your eyes widened. 

“Oh shit! I have to approve a final project at work and it’s due in an hour.” You put down your phone, looking at Brendon with worry. “I was in such a rush this morning I didn’t even think about bringing my computer. There’s no way I’ll be able to go over it in time if I have to go back to yours.” You ran a hand over your hair, heart rate rising. 

“Hey hey,” Brendon leaned forward, features softening, “it’s okay.” Before you could argue and continue spiraling, he put a hand over yours on the desk. “You can use my computer here, I won’t need for a while.” Your eyes lit up.

“You’re a life saver.” Moving to clutch the hand that was on yours with both of your hands. “Thank you so so so much.”

“No worries,” He smiled, the lines on his forehead creased as he still held concern in his face.  He stood up and stepped aside, giving you room to sit in his desk chair. “I have to check up on some patients, so you can have the office all to yourself.”

You quickly moved to take his seat. He leaned over to log into the computer, writing down the password on a paper just in case you got locked out. He gave you a quick tour of his layout and told you that you could do whatever you needed to do as he stood up to leave you to work.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” You shook his arms as he moved to leave.

“It’s no problem, good luck.” He tapped on the door frame before closing the door behind him. You were lucky the project wasn’t huge and didn’t need any special software to view it. Being one of the directors of the marketing department, you were in charge of making sure everything was perfect before it got sent off to the overheads. You had approved of changes and looked at the project while the team were doing their final touches earlier in the week, you were just needed to give the final go ahead. You quickly emailed the final version from your phone to Brendon’s computer email. While checking over everything, your team quickly worked to edit whatever needed to be fixed. The team had been working on it longer than they expected and were grateful they could get your official approval even while you were on vacation. After 43 minutes of being locked in to the desktop in front of you, you were able to give the final go ahead and the team turned the project in on time.

You let out a loud sigh as you sat back, being able to relax after the whirlwind of events. You let yourself take a moment to close your eyes. After a few minutes, you reopened your eyes to the sound of hinges squeaking. 

“Oop, sorry! I didn’t realise anyone was in here.” A blonde woman in purple scrubs said. “I was just dropping off some files for Dr. Park.” “Oh, you’re all good! I was just about to leave.” You go up to pack your things.

“Take your time, Dr. Park has been peppier since you’ve been here.” She laughed as she put the files in his intray on the top of the desk. You paused after processing what she said.

“Really?” Head tilting to the side as you looked back up at her.

“Oh yeah, he’s been much more lenient to the residents. And he let a smile slip earlier.” She smirked. “The Shark’s gone soft.” She whispered as if it was a secret, even though it was only you two. She just smiled as she went to leave the office, leaving you to your thoughts.

A/N: I got super carried away when writing this chapter. I thought about splitting it, but this made more sense to be BECAUSE we get to hear some more of Brendon's thoughts in Ch. 4.

also should i start taking requests??? - EM

bonus throwback: